Pritzker vs. Northwestern???

[MDlawyer]

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If confronted with the options of attending either Northwestern or Pritzker, which would you choose?

 

[fakename310]

I actually have to make this decision. And i'm leaning towards NU.

UC seems to have the better rep inside of chicago, but very very slightly. Overall, both schools have been described as great, and you actually get better training clinically at NU (this was told to me by a UC professor...)

Both have incredible match lists, with a slight edge to UofC again, but very small....

Student happiness, i'd give the edge to NU, they seemed probably the happiest of all students i've encountered...probably has something to do with the 2 hours of lecture..
U of C students are in school from 8-5 basically...or so it seems

In addition, location, NU wins hands down, its not even a contest...NU might be in the best location of any medical school, right in the center of the best part of a great city, whereas UofC is in the sorta nice part, of the worst part of the city, not sure i'd want to spend 4 years there....

So, if you weigh better curriculum (i like PBL a lot) + location vs. slightly better rep and match list, i think NU wins it for me

but its still seems like a choice between two great schools, so i don't think you can really go wrong...

just my 2 cents

 

[Schubie]

I find it hard to believe that any medical school has students that are happier than we are at Pritzker. This has a lot to do with the Pass/Fail system, and the fact that we are such a cooperative group of people, with an administration and faculty that will bend over backwards to help you out with anything you need. We are not in class THAT much, except for the fall quarter, in which we did have class from 8:30 to 5 every day. Last quarter was much better, as we only had lab 3 days a week, and the other days, we got out at 12:00 and 12:50. Everyone here is really relaxed and we have so much fun as a group.

As far as the location is concerned, you're right, NU is in the best part of Chicago, and I'm absolutely jealous of where they are located.

I'd argue that we get better clinical training than NU students because the location of our Hospital guarantees that we will have a more diverse patient population than at NU. However, I'm sure that Northwestern offers great clinical training as well.

With PBL vs. Lecture, that is a personal choice. For me, I happen to like lecture based better, but for others, PBL is the right style.

They are both great schools, but being completely biased, I can not imagine turning down Pritzker for anywhere.

 

[Neuronix]

I actually have to make this decision. And i'm leaning towards NU.

Hey, me too and me too (MD/PhD anyway).

UC has a better rep for research, but I'd say NU is a close second. It doesn't matter anyway if you find someone at either school you really want to work with (and I found at least one at NU).

I always hear that NU students don't get the great clinical exposure because Memorial is so "exclusive". I wonder about it, but because I'm MSTP it doesn't matter that much anyway.

Northwestern has a much more progressive cirriculum as you said. That's definately my style. The MSTP at UChicago seemed unduly stressful and the MSTP director unduly strange. They do claim some really high NIH site review scores (second behind Duke?), but I'm afraid I can't really see why. I was much more impressed with the integration and focus of Northwestern's MSTP.

And... 8 years in Hyde Park? Ugh. It's not even easy to get into downtown from there because mass transit stops are around Hyde Park, but not in it.

Edit: I stand corrected by Gumshoe. I simply meant that the "L" and the "metro" train systems do not actually go into Hyde Park near the school. Busses tend to run everywhere in and around a city. However, rapid transit systems like rail tend to get you where you want to go alot faster.

I should have stated that I would personally prefer something urban. My litmus test for whether a location is "urban" is whether you need a car to live there. I was told at my U of C interview that it would be very difficult to live there without one. If you want a more suburban environment, with close access to an urban environment, I think U of C would be better for you than Northwestern.

 

[MDlawyer]

Thank you for input.

Is anyone going to the second look weekend at Northwestern?

 

[Neuronix]

marq_bme and myself will represent the SDN MD/PhD crowd at the NWU second look. Marq_bme will definately be going there next year, while I am pretty undecided.

 

[Gumshoe]

yeah, I've hung out with NU peeps, pretty cool cats ... I'm glad you have chosen NU guys, because I wanna get in to U of C hahaahahahahahahahahah yeah right

Gumshoe

 

[uofchopeful]

Oh, boy, please tell me that those of you listing some of UofC's cons have at least seen all of the city and are not basing your thoughts on cursory observations made while visiting the campus.

#1 UofC is not "in a sorta nice part of the worst part of the city" (or whatever was stated). The campus is in a diverse, semi-upscale type of neighborhood. It could in fact be considered a city w/in a city. Just south of the campus is the Jackson Park neighborhood. While I wouldn't want to live there, believe me, there are much worse parts of the city. Ever hear of Englewood (murder capital of the nation at one point during the 90s? I used to live there for a few years. Straight up hell hole.

#2 The #6 Jeffrey Express bus runs from Hyde Park to downtown, making freqent stops in Hyde Park b4 running non-stop from 47th street to points downtown. Buses qualify as mass transporters.

Just thought I'd clear those up.

With the exception of those inaccuracies, all other points are good ones (as if my opinion matters ;>)

Don't get me wrong, NW is a sexy school, but there is some sort of strange comfort that envelopes you when you visit UofC. Maybe its all of the history and tradition. Who knows?

Go Maroons! (UofC's mascot)

What's up, Gummy?!

 

[Gumshoe]

I'm just trying to throw these peeps off of UC, because I have no chance of going to NU, but I wanna go to UC! Haaha, that's what I meant. If NU is better for you guys, by all means! It helps us all out that way!!! (I gotta say they are right about the NU location) However, that is no knock on UC

Hopeful, hit me up with a PM. I need to hear some of your new inside info, and the like ...

Gumshoe